A View from the Mountaintop

Well, before we get buried in MLK-iana today... This is, for me, the most stirring and yet perplexing of all his speeches. Did he know what lay ahead for himself? If he was looking ahead for the USA he was certainly still looking into our own future, because the events around the Obama candidacy illustrates that the USA hasn't quite reached the promised land... But one day...

And what about us... what do we see ahead? What are we commiting ourselves to build towards even if we aren't there to see it completed?

Well, I don’t know what will happen now; we’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn’t matter with me now, because I’ve been to the mountaintop. And I don’t mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life - longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over, and I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight , that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. So I’m happy tonight; I’m not worried about anything; I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.

Martin Luther King Jnr in a speech in Memphis, Tennessee 3rd April 1968, the night before he died.

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I am David A. Campton, a Methodist Minister, currently superintendent of the Belfast South Circuit, based on the Lisburn Road, in Belfast Northern Ireland. I am one of the organisers of the 4 Corners Festival. Also part-time chaplain in the Ulster Hospital, Dundonald, near my previous station in the east of the city.
I'm married to Sally, who has worked for 12 years in the voluntary and community sector. We have 2 sons: Owain (torn between being the next Professor Brian Cox, an actor or a rock god) and Ciaran (a bibliophile and expert on all matters regarding Dr. Who, Spiderman, Harry Potter or Greek mythology). The views expressed here are not the official viewpoint of the Methodist Church in Ireland, or Belfast South Circuit, merely personal ramblings. The A. of my name is to distinguish me from the other David Campton, who was a real author and playwright.